31 May 2020 – I am updating this page with resources on how to learn about, help and get involved in the social justice issues that are pressing so heavily in this moment.
So many wonderful people and organizations are offering services, skills, loans, courses, funding, setting up relief funds, that I thought I would try to make a page to contain them all! There may be some overlap; I’ll be adding to this as I find more resources!
I am trusting my sources on these, but not endorsing.
COVID General:
Freelancers Union Resource List – US; Aimed at freelancers and gig workers.
Freelancers Union Blog on Tax Relief for freelancers affected by Corona (sick leave)
COVID19 LA Mutual Aid Community Network (from LA Yoga) “is immediately rendering grocery/supply deliveries and community support services (errand-running, dog-walking, childcare, caregiving, and mental health support) for vulnerable individuals and families in LA impacted by the pandemic. Comprised of Los Angeles City-based grassroots organizations, movements and community members, this mutual aid network is coordinating community responses to COVID-19.
In love and protection of those of us most vulnerable— people who are facing homelessness, undocumented, disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, mentally unwell, and others unable to restock basic supplies they and their families need; COVID19 LA Mutual Aid Network joins us as neighbors and friends to help care for those of us most vulnerable to economic disruption and health dangers.
Click Here to Reach Out for Help, Donate Supplies, or Volunteer
Your responses will be shared with Ground Game LAorganizers and trusted community groups coordinating local supply and cash transfers between individuals and families impacted by COVID-19. We will not use or share your responses for any other purpose.
Click Here to Donate via GoFundMe
100% of donated funds utilized for groceries, supplies, and direct-aid to keep people in their homes.”
Covid 19 Los Angeles Community Resources– This google doc is non-editable and huge. Breathe and brace yourself. Know what you are seeking to avoid overwhelm. You can email the admin with additions or edits.
SMartDe provided the following resource list to its members – SMart is an EU-wide freelancer coop:
Further Information and Ressources
General Information:
On the situation in Berlin – information by the daily newspaper Tagesspiegel in German, English, Turkish and Arabic.
For the arts and culture sector:
Künstlersozialkasse (KSK) – official information / Recommendations by the lawyer Andri Jürgensen (in German)
Touring Artists – extensive compilation of resources
Kreatives Sachsen (in German)
Ver.di (in German)
Creative City Berlin – Hilfestellung für Künstler und Selbständige aus der Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft (in German)
Kanzlei Laaser – Ausfallhonorar: Absage wegen Corona (in German)
Härting-Hotline – free introductory phone consultations for companies, freelancers and institutions affected by cancellations (in German)
On The Move – Corona Virus: Resources: Arts, Culture and Cultural Mobility (in English)
YouTube recording of Sonja Laaser’s online talk on legal questions for artists and creatives in the times of the Corona crisis (via Kreativ Kultur Berlin, in German)
Culture of Solidarity – Call from the European Culture Foundation for cultural initiatives (Deadline: April 27th)
Smart kronik Blog – a look at the European partners of the Smart network (in French and Dutch)
Support local Berlin businesses via Helfen.Berlin
One Heart Berlin highlights artworks from exhibitions that have been closed, or plays a piece of music by an artist whose show was cancelled.
Workshop: After the Pandemic, What World Shall We Live In? (on April 14th, in English)
Unternehmer helfen Unternehmern – portal by Berlin’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Information in Deutsch, Arabic, English, Farsi, French, Pashtu
Support Your Kiez (Berlin) is a website to let you know what local businesses are open so that you can shop and buy locally. Will be updated and include more areas.
Common Field has created an open source Artist Resource document – funding, residencies, everything!
Relief Funds and Support:
COVID
Freelancers Union has announced a fund for freelancers!
Entertainment Guild Member Support info – The Actors fund site is hosting the application for assistance from the industry guilds. If you are a member of SA
Actor’s Equity has started a fund – this is the donation site
Berkeley Relief Fund (US/CA) is a campaign to help Berkeley survive the economic crisis brought on by COVID-19. It will provide emergency relief grants to those who are the hardest hit by the pandemic – such as small businesses, nonprofit arts organizations, and residential tenants. The City has already contributed $3 million to the relief fund.
Berlin Low-Income Artist + Freelancer Relief Fund (DE)
NYC Low Income Artist + Freelancer Relief Fund (US/NY)
Seattle Artist Relief (US/WA)
Arts Council England is offering emergency support for artists and arts organizations! (UK)
Society of Authors (UK) announces emergency fund
Poets & Writers have announced a COVID-19 relief fund. To be eligible for the first round of funding, you should meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Writers listed in their Directory
- Writers who have received a mini-grant through the Readings & Workshops program
- Writers who have received one of the awards or fellowships they sponsor: the Amy Award, Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award, Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, or Galen Williams Fellowship
Poets & Writers has started a resource list. Caveat: many of the funding options they list are existing funding sources, which are tough to get in the best of times. There are also a few new funds – worth digging through this list!
Mozza (Los Angeles) is turning 6610 Melrose Avenue into a relief center for restaurant workers who have lost their employment. This thread has details.
Expensify is diverting all of its charitable giving to hunger, specifically giving matching payments up to $50 to those using SNAP purchasing groceries. They will do this until they run out of funds and are actively seeking partners to privide more funding. Details on their site.
LOCAL MINNEAPOLIS ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT:
These come from the good folks at Button Poetry:
Reclaim the Block
https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2
Black Visions Collective
https://secure.everyaction.com/4omQDAR0oUiUagTu0EG-Ig2
Voices for Racial Justice
https://secure.everyaction.com/96WiFhrV002EedJNQeCT0g2
Lake Street Council (Help clean and rebuild Lake St. businesses):
https://www.welovelakestreet.com/
Northstar Health Collective (Non-Black led Medical Donation)
https://northstarhealthcollective.org/donate
BAIL FUNDS
These are from a compilation by @lalonders on Twitter for pulling these together that was subsequently sent out by Progress America, which has started a fund to distribute to the funds below. Or you can contribute directly to a local fund.
Chicago Community Bond Fund
Minnesota Freedom Fund
Los Angeles: People’s City Council Freedom Fund
Colorado Freedom Fund
Philadelphia Bail Fund
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
Columbus Freedom fund
Portland Protest Bail Fund
Montgomery Bail Out
Salt Lake City Bail Fund
Detroit Bail Fund
(Note: There is a movement to end the cash bail system, but in this moment we must prioritize the safety of the incarcerated, especially in the chaos of pre-trial holding cells and during a pandemic affecting prisoners disproportionately and withholding access to care.)
Great resources and info from MoveOn.Org:
“If you are looking for ways to take action from home, here are a few suggestions from MoveOn staff of concrete actions you can take:
- Join the work of vital Black-led and civil rights institutions, like Color of Change (whose petition for justice for George Floyd has now been signed by 400,000 MoveOn members); the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which is on the ground in Minneapolis; and Fair Fight, the group led by Stacey Abrams to battle voter suppression and expand voting access. If you haven’t yet signed Color of Change’s petition, add your name, and then share it with friends and family. And look for an email with other organizations you can support later this week.
- Share antiracist articles on Facebook and social media, and educate yourself and your community in the process. You can find plenty of resources on this page intended for white allies and compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein. It may—and should—lead to some challenging conversations.
- Act locally and demand Santa Monica officials hold police departments in your city accountable—from oversight of their actions to taking measures to reduce their funding. Check out this article in Saturday’s New York Times for more insight into the need to reduce and defund police departments. This is one place where local government, the folks closest to home, can have powerful influence to make change. Find the phone number of your mayor, city council, or police department to demand restraint in the face of protests, oversight of police actions, and steps to demilitarize and defund police departments. Or start your own petition here.
- Read and share my op-ed: “If you’re a white person wondering what to do during the George Floyd protests, I have some advice.” In it I write, “It’s crucial that you move from ‘not racist’ to becoming an antiracist. This begins with acknowledging that growing up in a racist society means you have taken in those ideas and that they have shaped your thoughts, feelings and actions.”
- Be a voter by registering, committing to vote yourself, and encouraging friends to vote. Voting isn’t the end-all of how we create an America for all. It is an important part of a larger strategy to make our vision of the future a reality. You can check your voter registration status and register to vote here.
If you do decide to take part in street protest to demand justice for George Floyd, here are some resources that will help you stay as safe as possible:
- “Safety During Protest” from Amnesty International.
- “How Dangerous Is It to Protest During a Pandemic?” from Rolling Stone
We’ll continue to share with you concrete actions that we can collectively take to end the system of racist policies that have for too long governed our society and kept Black people from full participation in American life.”
Books:
Out-Spoken Press is offering free ebooks!
Haymarket Books are offering ten free ebooks! (And 50% off other titles for Women’s History month!)
Diesel, A Bookstore is committed to getting books to you – you can order for pick-up or delivery; the store is closed for browsing.
Museums/Art/Galleries:
The following msueums offer virtual tours – list borrowed from the brilliant Edward Goldman’s newsletter:
1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
2. Musee d’Orsay, Paris
3. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
4. The J. Paul Getty Museum, LA
5. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
6. Palace of Versailles, France
7. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
8. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
9. Staatliche Kunstammlungen, Dresden
10. The Art Institute of Chicago
Virtual Tour of Frida Kahlo’s home!
Virtual Open Studios at GlogauAIR Art Residency in Berlin!
The Quarantine Residency has sprung up from organizations who’ve had to cancel in-person residency programs. You can submit to have your artwork included.
One Heart Berlin highlights artworks from exhibitions that have been closed, or plays a piece of music by an artist whose show was cancelled.
Music:
The Berlin Philharmonic has made its digital concert hall free. You must redeem the voucher before 31 March.
KCRW has compiled a list of live virtual concerts!
Daily live shows from Melissa Etheridge!
Live songs from Rufus Wainwright – one a day…
Soundcloud has created a great resource list for musicians and fans!
Theatre/Live virtual performance:
The Social Distancing Festival is going to showcase the work of artists who’ve had their performances canceled, delayed or disrupted.
What’s On Stage have compiled a list of online shows you can watch for free!
You can get a free 7-day trial on Insider and stream Broadway musicals!
National Theatre is taking NTLive one step further — it’s coming right into your home!!!
For one week, watch I and You with Maisie Williams on IG!
DVPit has created a google doc to register virtual events supporting diverse voices!
Hampstead Theatre at Home is offering up past productions beginning with 2016’s Wild.
Aja Monet has brought together a group of beautiful poets for a live stream on every other Friday!
Another chance to see Complicite’s The Encounter – through May 25th!
Dance:
Pointe Magazine has a list of classes going online!
Alvin Ailey ‘I Been Buked’ IG performance – If you need uplift, this is it!
Film:
The TCM Classic Film Festival has created a Special Home Edition!
Make your own movie! Take the Isolation Film Challenge!
Podcasts:
On Being is a collection of podcasts and poetry for uncertain times.
Open Mics:
Cobalt Poets (California) – Tuesdays, 7:30pm. A return of the legendary SoCal open mic hosted by Rick Lupert! Now w/o sketchy couches and creepy carpet! (Unless, you know, you roll like that in your home.) Feature March 24th: Alexandra Umlas. Sign up in the Zoom chat. 7 minute time limit. https://zoom.us/j/887913287
Sunday Slips (Berlin) – We are continuing Sunday Slips via live stream, staying true to our motto: “NO MATTER WHAT”. Send in your videos to freudianslipclub@gmail.com. Please include any tags, labels, links.
Berlin Spoken Word (Berlin) – Thursdays at 7.30. Get comfortable in your favorite spot at home, and as usual, enjoy the creativity and fun that is Berlin Spoken Word. Make sure that you have downloaded the Zoom software before then – or – use the download link that shows when you attempt to join. https://us04web.zoom.us/ During the poetry turn off your microphone unless you are the poet! A specific link to the show will be provided here closer to the time. You can sign up from 7pm on the Berlin Spoken Spoken Word Facebook Page – send a DM.
Health and wellness:
Down Dog – get the app for free yoga classes!
Hala Khouri – offering donation-based webinars and online yoga classes
Qigong for the lungs
Glo is offering a series of online yoga classes for free!
Insight Meditation Society is offering a daily guided meditation free!
Yogis Anonymous is offering free online yoga classes. Sign Up, create Account and where it say,s Do you have a coupon? Use: StayHealthy (all one word, case-sensitive). Please redeem by 3/31. (via LA Yoga)
Free Vitality Reboot: 7 Day Kundalini Yoga Spring Challenge and it free for 30 days! (New Customers only)
Gifted healer Jenn Tamera will be going live each Wednesday at 1pm PT in the Soul Garden Space Facebook Page to share tips and offer community healing. This session will be a nervous system reset, an energy clearing, and it will boost your immune system.
PornHub is FREE! I’m sharing this as a resource and not an endorsement. I’m aware there are social justice issues related to the ways in which this site can be used. I have not thoroughly researched these.
Courses/Tools/Skill Development:
Le Wagon is offering free online coding courses! Hurry and register!
This twitter thread highlights free offers from Apple, Amazon and more, including free access to software and content!
Reporting:
KCRW is an NPR station and they are dedicated to providing comprehensive coverage at this time.
The NY Times has brought down the paywall around Corona coverage.
The Local has brought down the paywall for Corona-related reporting.
Johns Hopkins Corona Virus Resource Center
Please do give donations where you can.
If you want to contribute to the upkeep of this page, you can PayPal me.
If you find something has expired or you feel it should not be on this list for some reason, please message me.
e. amato 